Fish & Chip Shop of the Year

This month, Nick Miller highlights some of the causes and campaigns Millers in Haxby supports while offering ideas on how other shops might be able to get involved too

There are so many great causes in the UK and loads of ways that fish and chip shops can support them. The best part? It’s loads of fun and a great way to build relationships with your customers, keep your staff engaged and get involved with your community! We actively work with and support a number of charitable organisations and causes, whether it’s helping local residents or taking part in national campaigns, it’s always our way of saying thank you to all of our customers, giving something back to them and making sure that fish and chips are at the forefront of the community.

The next event we'll be taking part in is Sport Relief, which raises cash to help people who are living incredibly tough lives in the UK and around the world. You can be sponsored by your customers and organise sporting challenges and quizzes, or get your entire shop involved and do something special. It’s a great way to raise money for a fantastic cause and build team bonds along the way!

Building on our efforts from last year which saw one of our staff members, Hope, getting plunged into a tub full of mushy peas for the evening (messy but fun!), we decided to do it all over again, but this time – with gravy! The money we receive from every pot of gravy purchased will be donated to Sport Relief and we will be setting up a donation bucket next to the gravy bath. We’d also like to thank Stelios at Ceres for generously supplying all of the gravy we will be using.

We’re not suggesting that everyone depletes their gravy supply to fill up a bath in-store every year, but we want to show that by hosting an eye-catching event such as this, it gets customers talking and encourages people to visit the shop and donate; all whilst profiling the amazing work of causes such as Sport Relief and Comic Relief.

In November, we partnered with York City Knights Foundation, a leading York charity, and York St. John University, to help tackle the issue of loneliness by bringing people together with fish and chips at monthly social events. These events have been well-attended and have helped to raise awareness in tackling the stigma of issues such as depression and loneliness – the overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees has made us so proud to be involved.

Haxby isn’t a huge place, but we’ve been here for over 50 years and our loyal customers regularly provide us with an opinion on what’s happening in and around the local community. By listening to and engaging with our customers, we’re able to hear about the important issues and work with them to address these issues as a result – whether that’s by fundraising or donating.

So it’s worth asking yourself when was the last time you reached out to your local community or spoke to local businesses to see if there are any great causes you can get involved in? Fish and chip shops are often at the heart of a local community and there are so many ways that we can all get involved. If you can’t remember the last time you did something with and for your customers, maybe it’s time to think outside the box and get fundraising! We’re all here to help with extra ideas.